"Airport in Northern Spain Evacuated After Terror Threat"

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Spanish airport shut after threat


MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- Zaragoza airport in northern Spain was evacuated
on Wednesday after a warning of an attack in the name of the Basque group
ETA, an airport spokeswoman said.

"The terminal has been evacuated and security checks are going on," she
said.

The Basque road assistance organization DYA confirmed it had received a
warning call and had alerted police.

"At 0906 (0706 GMT) we received a call in the name of ETA saying a grenade
launcher was in place and would go off between 1000 and 1200 (local time),"
a spokesman said.

The warning applied to both the military and civil airports in Zaragoza, she
added.

Wednesday is a national holiday in Spain to celebrate both the Spanish
nationality and the patron saint of Zaragoza, the Virgin of the Pillar.

It was marked by a military parade in Madrid, attended by King Juan Carlos
and some of the Latin American heads of state due to attend a summit in
Salamanca on Friday.

ETA has attacked Zaragoza before. It exploded a rocket grenade at the
airport in June and damaged an electricity station with a small bomb in
September.

The group, classed as a terrorist organization by Spain, the European Union
and the United States, has killed nearly 850 people since 1968 in its
campaign for an independent Basque state.


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